Well we have to take our witches hats off to the PRs down at the Pumpkin Patch, who have carved out one of the best natural storytelling opportunities we have seen in quite a while. We’re talking of course about news of the pumpkin shortage which has hit the headlines over the last few days. Most people in the UK have already had to squash into the vegetable isles of our local supermarkets in order to source these scary Halloween veg. But for those who haven’t and as the story says, poor weather conditions leading to many rotting pumpkins may leave many families facing the horror of a pumpkin-less Halloween! (In fact our own Claire was busy scouring Tesco in Macclesfield yesterday, but did manage to come away with a rather small pock-marked sample).
The seed of the story seems to have been sown by Pumpkin grower Barfoots which is referenced in many of the articles such as this one in The Independent. It’s perfectly timed and extensive coverage has been appearing throughout the week leading up to today. This is a great example of how even lesser known B2B brands can cut themselves a double helping of PR pie if they set their minds to finding and harvesting the natural and ripe story angles that are growing in their business. It also shows the importance of timing – as presumably the growers have known for a while that there would be a poor crop this year, but the story has been held back until its peak newsworthiness at Halloween.
What a superb B2B PR trick turned into a treat for the UK’s pumpkin growers!
Rob Skinner is Skout’s MD with 20 years of experience in B2B PR; he’s also smug because his pumpkins are all carved and ready!
